DOJ backs law expanding benefits for persons with disabilities

MANILA — The Department of Justice has recommended to President Aquino that he approve and sign into a law a bill that the House and Senate have passed that will provide more benefits and privileges to persons with disabilities (PWD).

The DOJ said it did not find any legal or constitutional objection to House Bill 1039 and Senate Bill 2890 entitled “An Act expanding the benefits and privileges of PWD,” which was approved on third and final reading in both chambers of Congress, DOJ Assistant Secretary Adonis Sulit said in a Jan. 25 letter to Menardo Guevarra, the deputy executive secretary of legal affairs.

If applicable, Sulit said the DOJ agreed with the proposed exemption of PWDs from the value added tax on goods and services as stated in the measure.

“We, likewise, welcome the additional provision providing 20 percent discount on the professional fees of attending doctors and the funeral and burial services of PWD,” he said.

In providing these benefits, the approved measure recognized the “difficult situation of the PWD, the need to promote and protect their human rights, including those who require more intensive support,” he said.  SFM